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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24351796">hold him close</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hooda/pseuds/Hooda'>Hooda</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Ben Solo in a damn bathtub that's it thats the tweet, Comfort Food, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Gen, Grad student Rey, Hurt/Comfort, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Protective Rey (Star Wars), Reylo Prompt</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 08:48:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,570</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24351796</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hooda/pseuds/Hooda</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>(@reylo_prompts) Curious Cat Prompt: "Rey's boyfriend had a bad day so she cooks his favorite food, offers to wash his hair and cuddle him; to her shock Ben starts crying - no one ever has been so nice to him."</p>
<p>_______</p>
<p>Rey would watch him work some nights, a shoulder pressed to his bedroom doorframe, as he sat diligently hunched at his dining room table late, eyes squinting at a bright laptop screen. His fingers would fly across the keyboard and press so hard, she wouldn’t be surprised if one of the keys got jammed someday.</p>
<p>It has been weeks since they had sex that wasn’t limited to half-assed quickies.</p>
<p>Like good, thoroughly attentive sex on a mattress. Rey missed it.</p>
<p>It’s been quickies in the bathroom before he had to leave for work. Or it was hands wandering down pants as one of them leaned against the kitchen counter, too impatient and tired to wait for the coffee pot to finish filling in the morning.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>257</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>hold him close</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>And the "Biggest Asshole Boss" award goes to..... (drumroll) Snoke!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b> <a href="https://twitter.com/reylo_prompts">(@reylo_prompts) </a> </b> <b></b> <b>Curious Cat Prompt: "Rey's boyfriend had a bad day so she cooks his favorite food, offers to wash his hair and cuddle him; to her shock Ben starts crying - no one ever has been so nice to him."</b></p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In the entirety of their nine month relationship, Rey has never heard Ben’s voice sound so dejected over the phone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He had called her from the office parking deck during his lunch break. It was usually just around the same time as her break between lectures when she would grab a steaming latte from her favorite cafe only a few minutes walk from her apartment. She had listened to him as he vented his frustrations out over the phone as she sipped her latte by the window overlooking the busy street.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Snoke was pushing him too hard on the latest project at the firm.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For weeks leading up to this bleary Friday, his boss had been sending Ben on whirlwinds of all-nighters focused on finishing an important firm project.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rey would watch some nights, a shoulder pressed to his bedroom doorframe, as he sat diligently hunched at his dining room table late, eyes squinting at a bright laptop screen. His fingers would fly across the keyboard and press so hard, she wouldn’t be surprised if one of the keys got jammed someday.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The firm stoutly expected each of its already overworked employees to provide perfect results and nothing less. Some deadlines have left Rey seriously questioning Ben’s limits, stressed as they already were nowadays.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And if there was any part about Ben’s personality Rey was convinced could survive a beating from his supervisor, it was his determination to leave no assignment inadequately unfinished.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He had the determination of a clydesdale plowing through thick snowfall, much like those Budweiser horses Rey saw on television during football game commercial breaks. The days she was beginning to loathe most were the ones when Ben was too preoccupied to answer her texts or return unanswered calls.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There were even weekends he would suddenly be called in by Hux, his coworker, to bicker and restructure entire facets of projects. And the more he became involved at work as a potential promotion loomed overhead, the more Rey felt like Snoke was digging his perfectly manicured talons into Ben’s skin.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It has been weeks since they had sex that wasn’t limited to half-assed quickies.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Like good, thoroughly attentive sex on a mattress. Rey missed it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s been quickies in the bathroom before he had to leave for work. Or it was hands wandering down pants as one of them leaned against the kitchen counter, too impatient and tired to wait for the coffee pot to finish filling in the morning.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She missed him; simple as that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She missed him regardless of the fact that they slept in the same bed most nights of the week. She missed binging Netflix baking shows before bed and browsing apartment listings as they dreamt up their future as a couple.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And Rey sips her latte staring out at the rain soaked, albeit busy, streets of Chicago’s Loop, Ben’s voice in her ear cusses about his coworkers because he was too stubborn to leave a firm that demanded failed to respect its employees.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“<em>I’m sorry,</em>” he suddenly sighs, and she can perfectly imagine him swiping a hand through the fringe of hair that would endearingly settle over his forehead. “<em>I didn’t ask you how your day was before droning on about mine.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“My day’s been the same as every other day. Same lectures, same boring professors, babe. I don’t mind listening to you. It sounds like you need a break. It’s a good thing this thing won’t drag into the weekend.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Another sigh from the other end has Rey itching to hold him close, to run her hands through his hair until his troubles melt away. She picks at the rim of her to-go cup with a poorly painted fingernail and worries at her bottom lip with her teeth.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“I just want Hux to cooperate. At least until we can get this monstrosity turned in right for the clients.”</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I know, Ben. I’m proud of you for how hard you’ve worked on this. And hey! It’s almost over. Look on the bright side: it’s Friday and the day’s half over.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A man wearing a bright yellow hat passes by outside as he ducks for cover under the nearby bus stop roof. She checks her wrist watch. Her next class started in nearly twenty minutes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“You’re right, and I’m sorry I let this thing get in the way of everything lately. I promise I’ll make it up to you, sweetheart.”</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ben, no. What are you talking about? Don’t apologize over this. Especially over something you wanted to work on so hard.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He tries to start again. “<em>Rey, I’m serious. I’m sorry and I’ll-,”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“-Ben, please stop.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A beat of silence.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Just come over to my place when you clock out, okay? I’ll make you dinner.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“Sweetheart, I should be taking you out or buying you flowers or some shit. I’ve been ignoring you like a complete ass.”</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She moves to sling her messenger back over her shoulder, keeping her phone pressed to her ear with one hand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t worry about that stuff. You’ve been stressed out lately; just let me take care of dinner. Okay?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bag snug at her side, she cradles her to-go cup close and pushes the door of the coffee shop open. The bus crawls close around the corner. The cool, rainy air nips at her nose.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“Seriously, Rey,-“</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ben. <em>No</em>. Let me take care of dinner.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Let me take care of you,</em> she wants to tell him. <em>Let me take care of you and feed you and hold your head in my hands as we lay on the couch and cuss Snoke. Let me help bridge the gap that we have let widen between us.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“You’re sure?”</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, I’m sure. Just text me when you clock out.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The bus slows to a stop with a hiss. The man with the yellow hat steps towards the door with his fare clutched tightly in hand. Rey steps in line behind him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“Okay. See you later love.”</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>_______</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Until she was adopted by the Erso-Andor family in her mid-teens, Rey’s cooking skills were severely limited to heating up pre-cooked meals and cheap boxes of macaroni and cheese. By the time her fifteen year old scrawny ass had been placed in Jyn and Cassian’s care, Rey was able to proudly prepare herself a meal consisting of Kraft mac-n-cheese, a side of Uncle Ben’s 90-second Ready Rice, and a soda.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Cassian had been the first foster father that took the time to teach her how to prepare fresh rice, or what mix of vegetables worked best for a salad. He enjoyed showing her different ways to prepare chicken on a grill and had an infinite patience when Rey stumbled her way through making a home cooked meal.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Meeting Ben was like experiencing a literal culinary awakening.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The man could cook like his very life depended on it, which sometimes happened if Rey viciously craved his homemade meals during her painful periods midway through a month. He could cook a mean cheesy lasagna that leaves Rey so full afterwards, she can only waddle to the couch before dropping like a dead weight.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ben’s kitchen alone was a space that could leave a <em>chef </em>themselves impressed. He likes his countertops pristinely cleaned, his drawers more organized than a surgical equipment tray, and was the proud owner of a Kitchen-Aid Mixer. A red one, of course, because it was the first pop of color everyone noticed when they walked into the room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Compared to Ben, Rey’s cooking was definitely subpar. Modest. Barely even <em>compared</em> to his in the first place.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>But it is the thought that matters most, </em>she tells herself as she climbs up the flight of stairs to her apartment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ben could cook like a pro and prides himself in being able to make amazingly mouthwatering meals for his girlfriend. He likes taking care of her, even without her having to rarely ask. Even when he was swamped in work and she insisted on picking up take-out on her way to his place, he almost always made it a point to cook her something borderline illegally delicious.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Again, <em>almost</em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Almost</em>, because work was frequently becoming an extra new level of stress and dumping so much work on her boyfriend’s shoulders, he once forgot dinner. The time it had happened, he had profusely apologized as she waved him away towards his laptop as she dialed a nearby Chinese restaurant.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rey reaches her apartment door and manages to balance the bag of groceries on one arm, leaving the other free to wiggle the key into the lock. Her phone dinged in her pocket as she stumbled into the small foyer. Rain boots kicked off and heavy messenger bag abandoned on the ground by the door, she trudges into the kitchen.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b> <em>(5:44)</em> </b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>😍<b><em>Big Ben</em></b>🧸</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b> <em>Clocked out early. Hux is pissed im leaving, idc. Be at your place soon. Need me to grab anything on the way over?</em> </b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She barely has to think before typing back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>(5:45)</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b> <em>nope.</em> </b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b> <em>fuck Hux he can go shove another stick up his ass</em> </b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b> <em>don’t need anything. Drive home safely</em> </b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>_______</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ben texts her twenty minutes later to say that he had parked outside her building and headed up. Rey finishes pulling the pork chops off of the pan.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was their shared comfort food.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For Ben, pork chops reminded him of weekends at his Uncle Luke’s as a young teenager during the year his parents were navigating their sticky divorce. His uncle had taught him the “Skywalker top secret seasoning” (which turned out to just be <em>a lot </em>of cumin and garlic powder) before slapping the meat on the grill, or pan if they were cooking inside because of the cold weather. They would sit with Auntie Mara on the couch watching reruns of the <em>Blues Brothers</em> and <em>Goodfellas</em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Pork chops meant weekends away from Han and Leia’s constant arguments. It meant he got to hang out at his uncle’s house, maybe help his aunt paint some pots out on their rickety back deck if the weather was nice, or watch mafia movies his parents almost never took the time to sit down and watch with him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rey finishes placing the last pork chop onto a plate as Ben’s copy of her apartment key rattles at the door. He walks in quietly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Before she can even turn around to greet him, she can hear him sniffing the air.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A soft “<em>woah</em>” escapes him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rey can only equate the look on his face when she turns around to greet him as one of a dog that has found its way home. His round ears were sticking through lank hair from the rainfall, heavy backpack half falling from his stiff shoulders, and his eyes were focusing on Rey like she was a lifeline in a storm.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They were wide and possibly brimming with unshed tears.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His backpack falls carelessly to the ground beside his feet as she reaches out to curl her arms around him. One finds its way around his torso as the other reaches for his collar, her fingers delving into the hair at the nape of his neck.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The message was clear as day:<em> I’ve got you; I’ll never let go;</em> <em>just trust me.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ben practically melts into her touch.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For a man who rarely finds time to work out as much during the last few weeks, Ben’s arms were firm around Rey’s waist when they fall around her. His hair tickles her skin when his head falls into the crook between her neck and shoulder, nose pressing into the material to her old undergrad sweatshirt.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She lets him hold her tight despite dinner waiting for them in the kitchen and probably a mile long list of emails demanding his attention on his laptop. He smells like a mix of the rain and old coffee from the office.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dinner is a quiet affair.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They sit at Rey’s minuscule table in her apartment’s living space that is just a little too short for Ben’s knees and quietly scarf down their food. Ben wasted no time unbuttoning his dress shirt and ruffling his hair with a hand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He asks her about her lectures, about her upcoming exams in her juvenile law classes. It was the same thing she told him earlier over the phone - same old drawling lectures, same old professors.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What did Snoke think about your work on the project?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ben’s eyes immediately drop to his empty plate and his fingers grip his napkin.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Um, he thought it was fine. There were some parts he picked at though. But otherwise, he said it was just fine.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Fine.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Just fine.’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Weeks of sleepless nights and bickering with arrogant coworkers for ‘<em>just</em> <em>fine</em>?’</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rey grabs their empty plates and stands to carry them into the kitchen before the little sinking feeling in her gut can sour the evening.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ben follows immediately behind her with their disposable napkins and empty glasses. She takes the glasses from his hands and sets them in the sink, which she stands in front of with a hip against the cool counter to keep him from slinking into his usual place to wash the dirty dishes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We can talk about Snoke and his stupid shit later. Go take a hot shower. You look like you need one.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He opens his mouth to argue. And knowing Ben it’ll be something along the lines of wanting to help out in return for burdening her with the dinner chores, or how he felt bad for slipping into bed late these last few weeks, or for inconveniencing her in some microscopic way she never even noticed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She raises a hand to stop him and points in the direction of her bedroom.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Go. I’m serious. You smell like that damn office and old coffee and if I’m going to cuddle with you while we watch Netflix, it’s going to be after you shower.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Instead of adhering to her strict orders and turning away, he just looks down at her with that same soft expression from when he walked through the door.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Like a puppy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Like the luckiest puppy that finally found its way home in the freezing rain.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You want to cuddle? And watch Netflix?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rey nods as she reaches for a sponge.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I? We can eat ice cream and try out that new weighted blanket I got off of Amazon last week.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He gives a half shrug to his wide shoulders.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s just that I thought you’d be pissed at me or something. I thought you would want me to head back to my own place after dinner.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rey’s head tilts to the side as her eyes slightly widen in realization as she looks up at her boyfriend. He thought she was pissed at him? And that she wanted to feed him, only to send him back to his apartment afterwards? The sinking feeling in her gut deepens like a vice gripping her insides.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ben, why should I be pissed at you?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He gives her another half shrug.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’ve been working like crazy and ignoring you and you have every right to not want to be around me for that. You didn’t have to make me dinner if you didn’t want to. I could have just swung by Maz’s Palace after work.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rey shakes her head at his words, drops the sponge in the sink and immediately reaches out to grip his arms. He was stiff, almost as if he was expecting her to twirl him around and push him out the door with his backpack and jacket in tow.</p>
<p>“It doesn’t matter how shitty work has made these last few weeks, but Ben I need you to listen to me. <em>Very</em>. <em>Clearly</em>. I am not mad at you in any way.” His eyes soften even further. “I’ve been wanting to cuddle you since you brought that godforsaken <em>behemoth</em> of a project home from work.” His wide shoulders loosen under her hands. “And I made dinner tonight because I want to take care of you, sweetheart.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maybe it’s the usage of the endearment typically reserved for her. Or maybe it’s the part about wanting to take care of him. Ben’s expression goes soft in a way that Rey knows has rarely happened since they began dating.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His Adam’s apple bobs when he suddenly swallows a heavy breath.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay,” he murmurs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When he finally disappears into her room, Rey starts washing the dirty dishes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As lucky as she was to have found a place with a bathtub and fourth floor view of the nearby park, Rey was burdened with having to wash each every dish by hand. And lacking a dishwasher meant she needed to get creative with how she placed plates, a pan, and what seemed like a million different utensils on the plastic drying rack on the counter. Some days, she missed the luxury of simply stacking and pressing a few buttons and <em>voila</em>! there would be clean cups and plates by the next morning.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This was not one of those nights.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She wipes down her single nonstick pan with warm water and dish soap from the blue Dawn bottle. The little ducking stares up at her as she scrubs the pan down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ben was the most tenacious worker she has ever met in her life. And this was coming from the woman who grew up in foster care and worked for every dime she ever needed to live. Somedays, she truly wonders how he has not crashed or burned from the pressure he places on himself to achieve perfection at work.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ben is not in bed, nor bedroom for that matter, when she finally decides to join him after finishing cleaning up the kitchen. His discarded work shirt, tie, and slacks are left bundled on top of the small round ottoman that sits by her window.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The telltale sound of gently sloshing water spurs her attention to the adjoining bathroom. A quick glance through the slightly ajar door reveals her tub threatening to nearly overflow as a tense Ben pulls his knees up to hug with one arm. The other held his phone to his ear. He was chewing on his bottom lip far too much for Rey’s liking. She had not even heard his phone go off when she was busy cleaning up after their meal.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Grabbing an old pair of sweatpants and an even older t-shirt from her irreparably unbalanced IKEA dresser, she quietly nudges the ajar bathroom door open and walks in. The tinny voice over the phone continues to prattle when Ben’s eyes widen as Rey strips down to just her boy short and thin tank top. The tips of his ears turn a soft shade of pink.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The voice at the other end repeats something sharp that Rey is unable to hear clearly. Ben’s eyes fall away from Rey as if he had been pinched back to reality.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I heard you the first time. I don’t care about the budgeting reports for the Mellman case right now. You can look at that yourself on Monday.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Without waiting for a response from the other end, he presses down on the red ‘end call’ button. Rey watches him toss his cell phone unceremoniously onto the plush bathmat beside the bathtub.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Who was that?” She moves to kneel behind the tub, behind him, to place her hands on his damp shoulders. He shivers a little when her fingers begin kneading to dispel the tension in his muscles.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rey never failed to marvel how her boyfriend always ran warm. It was as if he were a walking furnace that she could cuddle with on cold nights. As much as he mumbled and muttered about her feet burrowing under his calves when he stayed over on cold nights, Ben was never one to complain. In fact, it was almost as if he <em>liked</em> sharing heat and being her personal, perfect size heating pad.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She missed his warmth the nights he had been working late.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It was Armitage.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Oh. Armitage.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Oh</em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A call from Armitage to Ben almost never happened outside of a project. A call this late in the evening was rare, even more unexpected.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>By the way Ben’s shoulders slump and his head falls forward, Rey can already guess the context of the call. Any contact outside of a project was typically just Armitage boasting about something that happened around the office. It was his attempt to be a gluttonous, pig-headed ass who liked to pretend he was a bigger man than his lanky frame allowed.</p>
<p>Rey reaches a palm out until it rests at the nape of Ben’s bent neck. Her fingers delve into his soft hair. She runs her nails lightly against his scalp in the way she learned he likes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Whatever he decided to brag about this time is not worth wrecking our night. I am still convinced the man is trying to overcompensate for a tiny pecker that fails him when he manages to convince a poor woman into bed.” Ben shivers and she knows it has nothing to do with the cooling bathwater gently lapping at his skin. She continues scraping her nails soothingly through his hair and against his scalp.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Snoke liked him more than me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So what? You’re a far better employee. Like, a million fucking times better. Anyone who can’t see that is the either the biggest dick-wad boss in existence, or blind as a nocturnal bat staring straight up at the sun.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ben chuckles softly. It twists into something humorless.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Snoke chose him for the promotion.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rey’s fingers stilled.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“And carrot-head had the audacity to fucking call you?” Rey crawls on her knees until she was rather at the side of the tub than behind it. She grabs his chin in one hand and forces him to look at her, only her. Not the water. Not at the disappearing bubbles. Not the space over her shoulder where he sometimes let his eyes glaze over when he had to look in her direction. “Was he the one to break the news about the promotion? Ben; did he call just to <em>gloat to you?</em>”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ben swallows thickly and tries to pull his chin away, but she only holds on tighter.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She stares him dead in the eye until she gets an answer out of him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Snoke copied both of us on an email with the final promotion decision and I didn’t see it until after dinner. I had barely finished reading the damn thing when I got the call. I was barely in the tub for a minute.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rey lets his chin go and rubs at her eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Of fucking course.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Of course Snoke was the type of Grade-A asshole boss that emailed two competing coworkers about a promotion decision. Rey expected nothing less from the man who could give the Grinch a run for his money in the race to dishearten the nicest souls in the universe. Rey had only met him once at a company event Ben had invited her to a few months earlier. The man had an inescapable air of arrogance that suffocated Rey faster than his reeking name brand cologne.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ben chuckles humorously.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I should just quit. It’s a lost cause to stay at that damn place. I’ll never be able to work at the level they want.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rey stands abruptly to strip the last of the clothes on her body. She flings her bralette and boy shorts somewhere in the direction of the hamper in the corner of the bathroom. Ben’s eyes widen and he scrambles to give her room when she steps into the bathtub. When she finally settles and sits facing him, she gives him a grin.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You have no idea how much I have secretly been waiting for you to admit that, baby.” The water was still warm as it lapped at Rey’s skin. The combination of the conflicting cool air and the warmth of the bath water had gooseflesh appearing along her skin. Even her nipples were pebbling from the water droplets that ran down her chest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His eyebrows shoot so far up, they nearly disappear into his mussed hair. His crooked smile appears for the first time in what feels like forever. It leaves the pit of Rey’s core feeling warm all over.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She eagerly nods in confirmation. “I’ll even help you write up a resignation letter. A nasty email with a bunch of middle fingers to your boss. To Armitage. To every asshole you have had to work with at that place that only made you so miserable. I will absolutely support any decision you make.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ben chuckles and leans his chin against a bent knee. Rey could swear there was a new glimmer in his dark eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Her heart fluttered in her chest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She missed his smile. She missed <em>him</em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You never cease to amaze me sweetheart. Here I was thinking you would dump me while I was working late and constantly being an obsessive workaholic.” His chuckle turns humorless at the small admission that leaves Rey’s fists clenching.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dump him? For being committed to his work and profession? For being a damn stubborn man with the determination of a Clydesdale on a mission through a frozen field? And he was having doubts she would want to keep him around just because he stayed up late to work or forgot to call her during the day or was too tired for sex when she stayed over at his place?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rey reaches out a hand to grasp the thick fingers of the hand he had clasped around a bent knee. She fixes him with a stern look.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What did I tell you about having doubts? Like I said before, I don’t just dump someone because they are having a rough time at the office for a while.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ben shrugs and grasps her fingers, giving them a little squeeze between his own.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sometimes it’s harder to remind myself. I just get so caught up in the pressure and stress and just compare myself to my mom. I remember how Dad always hated her late nights at the office.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His past shone unapologetically in his eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He was plagued by memories of shouting matches between his parents even to this day, decades after their separation and divorce of the family. There were times when he could still feel the little scars they left all over his soul at such a young age. His mother’s legacy permeated so many different aspects of his childhood. Trips out of town left him with a father he had little in common with as he got older. Meetings with clients and other attorneys kept his mother from attending musicals he proudly took part of to escape from the isolation at home.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rey tilts her head and nudges a foot against his shin under the water. In a move faster than Rey can react to properly, Ben frees his fingers from hers and reaches to grip her ankle. She yelps when he runs a large hand up and across the muscle of her calf, pulling her leg up and straight until her foot rested against his chest.</p>
<p>Ben’s face bloomed a beautiful pink color. From where they stuck out awkwardly of his hair, his ears were turning a whole new shade of red. He presses his thick thumb into the arch of her foot.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A breathless sigh escapes her. Ben’s eyes narrow a tiny bit.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Before you, I can’t remember the last time someone challenged me to fight my worst impulses.” Another swipe of his broad thumb, still at the arch but this time closer to the heel. “I’ve barely known you a year and in that time, you’ve hugged me more times than my parents ever held me in my entire life.” A press into the heel leaves her breathless. “And here you are tonight. Making my favorite dinner and touching me like I’m not some sort of failure at work. Like some kind of loser who can’t put a hundred pound stick in his place.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His thumb stills and he simply holds her foot, staring at her with an indescribable gaze that leaves Rey’s belly fluttering with an unprecedented warmth.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They look each other dead in the eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I guess I just know how to speak your love language, sweetheart.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>_______</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They barely bother to grab towels to dry themselves off when they climb out of the tub. Water splashes over the sides and wets Ben’s phone on the floor.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Neither of them give a damn. For all Ben cares, the battery could die as it sits on the ground overnight. Rey pulls him down to her level to nip at his bottom lip.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He watches with a never ending fascination as her nipples harden as droplets of water drip down her freckled skin. He chases those same droplets.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He chases them with his hands down each ridge of her spine, down the valley between her breasts, down the slant of her neck and curve of her shoulder. He chases them with an insatiable thirst, like a man who survived the desert with nothing but his loneliness and will to survive to see the next sunrise.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Time blurs nonsensically.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rey’s loose hair sticks to her damp skin when she drags him to bed and leans over Ben’s chest to nip his bottom lip between her teeth. The only sounds they can discern is of their skin meeting when his cock buries home in her cunt.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Slowly at first. Again and again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Her slick coats them where they join and his massive hands burn where they grip her hips to help her movements. There is no other sensation more important than the one building low in her belly after Ben bends his legs to gain power in his tantalizing thrusts up into her cunt.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’re so close, baby,” her lips mumble against his own. She moves a hand to grip his shoulder when a particularly deep thrust jostles her just a little further up his body. He moves one hand from her hips to move the one she placed at his shoulder. He presses it to his scalp, burying her fingers in his hair.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What he wants goes unsaid, but wordlessly understood.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Hold me</em>, he tells her. His own hand grips the nape of her neck. <em>Just like I hold you.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>His fingers weave into her hair, tugging close to her scalp. Ben only presses her closer to his mouth, breaths intermingling and small grunts passing between them like little secrets.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So close…” he whimpers when Rey clenches her muscles around his cock. She watches satisfyingly as his eyes glaze. She would give him everything in this moment. She would rope every star in the galaxy just to see them glimmer in his eyes. Her whole being belonged to him, whether he knew it or not.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Come for me, sweetheart,” she mumbles against his lips. His thrusts only grow more sporadic beneath her. The fingers still gripping one of hips will undoubtedly leave marks by the next morning. “Come for me and I’ll follow right behind. I promise. Fuck. Right there. Please. Ben. <em>Oh, god…</em>”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He kisses her silent as his body goes stiff beneath her. His tongue pushes past the seam of her lips as his release floods her cunt with a warmth that sends Rey flying over the edge. She presses her hips down against his own, his pelvic bone against her clit as she returns to reality.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She presses nonsensical open mouthed, sloppy kisses to the skin at his neck. To his collarbone. To the spots behind his ears that still blushed an endearing beet red shade as he grinned sleepily at her ministrations.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When she pulls off of him to go pee (UTI’s were a woman’s worst enemy sometimes), she leaves him with a press of her lips to his sweaty temple.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’ll take more than a few weeks of rough work at the office to scare me away.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He chuckles with a half-lidded sleepy expression as she disappears into the bathroom. The second most incredible sensation in the world was slipping into the flannel sheets to sleep with absolutely no clothes on. Followed very closely by Ben’s furnace of a chest pressing into Rey’s back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We’ve got all weekend to write up my resignation letter,” Ben chuckles sleepily as the hand wanders to her chest to pull her impossibly closer. He managed to loosely cup one of her breasts like a stress-ball just as sleep overtakes him. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rey smiled into her pillow as she closed her eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Babe, it’ll be the best damn resignation letter that’ll ever have hit them.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>_______</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ben’s phone buzzes with unanswered messages on the floor of Rey’s bathroom. She blocks Armitage’s number when she picks it up the next morning to set on the nightstand on Ben’s side of the bed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Anything important?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She slides back under the sheets and burrows into her favorite spot. Her nose presses into the nape of his neck as Ben pulls one of her arms around his waist.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Nope. Nothing. Go back to sleep, sweetheart,” she murmurs into his hair.</p>
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